Pakistani officials have said that at least 100 people were killed and over 200 injured after a car bomb exploded in a marketplace in the city of Peshawar on Wednesday. The attack was the deadliest in the country in this year.

Initially, large fires were reported to be burning around the marketplace, which was crowded with people. The flames spread easily because there were many stores in the area selling flammable fabrics. Police said the blast was heard throughout most of the city, and the explosion reportedly left a hole in the ground up to ten feet wide.

“There was a huge blast. There was smoke and dust everywhere. I saw people dying and screaming on the road,” said an eyewitness, Mohammad Siddique, to the Agence France-Presse news agency.

Several buildings collapsed as a result of the detonation, and rescue workers searched through the rubble looking for survivors beneath the debris.

Muzamil Hussain, a member of local medical staff, described his experiences to the Associated Press: “There were a lot of wounded people. We tried to help them but there were no ambulances so we took the victims on rickshaws and other vehicles. There were no police. The police and government didn’t help us, the police even opened fire on us.”

“Bodies are scattered and badly burned because of the fire caused by the explosion. The explosion took place in a very crowded market,” Mohammed Naeem, a spokesman for a local ambulance service, said.

Some people expressed anger that the bombings managed to be carried out in broad daylight in a crowded area. “What kind of security alert is this? It was an explosives-packed car. Look at the mosque, it ceases to exist anymore. For God’s sake, do something,” said a local middle-aged shopkeeper, as quoted by the CNN news agency.

A state of emergency at the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, where many of the wounded people were hospitalised, was called soon after the explosion. Hospital officials appealed to the public and to other medical centres for blood donations.

The bomb attack happened just hours after Hillary Clinton, the United States Secretary of State, flew to the nation to discuss peace with Pakistan’s military commanders and political figures. Clinton will be in Islamabad for three days.

Clinton condemned the attack. “These attacks on innocent people are cowardly. They are not courageous. If the people behind these attacks were so sure of their beliefs, let them join the political process,” she said.

The bombing also comes just days after Pakistani military forces captured the town of Kotkai, the hometown of Taliban Chief Hakimullah Mehsud, and one of his top officers, Qari Hussain.

Almost 100 cats and one dog were found living in a feces- and filth-ridden New Jersey house, in what local authorities are calling among the worst cases of animal cruelty they have ever seen.

Authorities had to wear masks in order to help them breathe through the stench of urine as they removed cats from the million-dollar, two-story brick house in Chester Township.

“The conditions were absolutely horrific,” said Rick Yocum, a lieutenant with the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “There wasn’t one inch of that house that wasn’t covered in feces or urine. There were three foot piles of feces in the hallways.

Wanda Oughton, the homeowner who lives there with two adult children, is expected to face criminal and civil charges, possibly as early as this weekend.

According to media reports, the floors, couches and tables of the home were littered with waste, and garbage was crammed into microwaves and ovens. The bottom of a bathtub had an eight-inch mound of feces, authorities said.

“It was horrible to go in there,” SPCA spokesman Matt Stanton said. “Our people had to fill their nostrils with Vick’s VapoRub and wear masks. They could only go in for five minutes at a time and had to come out to get fresh air again.”

Oughton refused to leave the house during the initial investigation and declined to speak to reporters.

“Go away. Go away. We have a call in to the police,” two women yelled at reporters through the front door.

SPCA officials believe Oughton and her family to be animal hoarders, not “horrible people”, said SPCA Superintendent Frank Rizzo.

“For hoarders, the animal is the most important thing,” Rizzo said. “More important than their own health.”

Yocum said they plan to ask Oughton to undergo a mental health assessment.

About 20 cats were removed from the house Thursday and are being treated for upper respiratory problems. The remaining cats are to be taken out Friday, and will be distributed to different veterinarians so no one office is too overwhelmed.

50,000 people refuse evacuation after flooding in India caused by river changing course

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

The Kosi River changed course one week ago to a path which it has not taken for over 100 years. While 900,000 people were evacuated by rescue workers, new data has revealed that 50,000 people, from the town of Saharsa, have refused to leave their homes.

Advertisements in local newspapers have been used to encourage the people who are still remaining in the area to leave soon. People are encouraged to go to one of many camps, which are funded by the government, to seek refuge from the continued flooding.

People have also started to return to their homes, due to the fact that they have seen the water level drop by over half of a metre in some areas. This is despite statements by officials emphasizing that people may need to stay in the camps for up to six months.

Approximately 1.2 million people are estimated to have had their homes flooded by the disaster. 42 people have been confirmed dead, although The Australian has reported that the actual death toll is likely to be much higher.

The incident started when gushing waters quickly overflowed the channel boundaries on both sides at a rate of about 200 meters per day, flooding vast tracts in Supaul, Araria, Saharsa, Madhepura, Purnia, Katihar, parts of Khagaria and northern parts of Bhagalpur, as well as adjoining regions of Nepal. About 2.7 million people are affected by this flood disaster of massive dimensions, with about 900,000 people in the affected areas having moved to 285 relief camps and 249 health centers. An estimated 100,000 are still trapped in various villages without food or drinking water since several days ago when the crisis began.

During the last 250 years, the Kosi has moved its path up to 150km westward on multiple occasions, leaving behind a series of paleochannels. The river is a tributary of the Ganges, with catchment areas in the Nepal Himalayas, one of the fastest rising mountain chains, flowing through a 150-kilometer wide and 180-kilometer long alluvial fan. Fast silting of the channels by the tons of annuvium brought down by the river makes it drift off so often that it is often cited as one of the text book examples of a dynamic river system to geologists.

Cervical and breast cancer are two types of cancer which not only affect a woman physically but mentally too e.g. dealing with all the trauma after being diagnosed with the disease. A large percentage of women admit to living in fear of the big C, however cervical or breast cancer free women admit that the thought of contacting the disease never leaves their thoughts.

Sadly, self breast examination seems to be unimportant for some women who choose to ignore a health issue as vital to secure their well being, ignoring any indication that breast cancer is developing can result in the patient having to fight for their life. If an examination of the breasts had taken place in some unfortunate cases the whole scenario would have just involved treating the breast cancer and no involvement of an undertaker. Women need to wise up because if they continue to carry ignorance as an ally to help beat this battle – then they lose. Winning includes modern medicines. Early cancer treatment betters survival odds hence giving a patient the chance to carry on with their life instead of throwing it away.

Aside from bosom blunders where ignorance may have prevailed we have cervical cancer. Women need to be aware of all involvements i.e. what to expect throughout any cervical cancer treatments. The cervix is the lower part of the womb or uterus and is commonly referred to as the ‘neck of the womb’.

The cervix and its purpose are to help maintain a normal pregnancy. In non-pregnant women, the cervix has no obvious function. In the UK cervical cancer is down on paper as the sixth most common cancer in women. It is of the utmost importance for a woman to keep healthy in mind body and soul by having regular cervical cancer smear tests – oft times referred to as a Pap smear test. Smear tests are commonly carried out in order to detect any cell changes that come before cancer. It’s a waiting game, meaning, it can take years for these cell changes detected at the time of a cervical smear test to become cancer. Luckily some changes have been known to go away by themselves.

Women who waited in anticipation for their cancer results said they found it more of an ordeal coping with the wait than that of receiving the actual prognosis (cervical cancer).

Suffering in silence is not healthy, not all abnormal test results indicate that cervical cancer is present. It is through early diagnosis and treatment of pre-cancerous changes that development of actual cancer can be prevented. Early detection is most profound to help fight the disease.

There are two types of this cancer; the squamous cell cancer and aden-ocarcinoma. Cervical smear tests detect the early changes of squamous cell cancer. Early stage growths of certain cancers can be treated with surgery or radiotherapy thus resulting in a cure.

Regular questions asked about cervical cancer are what the causes are; well there is no definite single cause, however study points the finger at a viral infection of the cervix or cancer sticks (cigarettes). Fags are a major health hazard relating to lung cancer, smoking is said to also increase the risk of developing cervical cancer and even the number of partners in youth trial runs of intercourse have also been linked to being connected to the cause. In the UK cervical tests are routinely performed every three years, lives are being saved because of this.

Females face a silent but deadly situation because; pre-cancerous changes of the cervix that show up on cervical smear tests unfortunately do not give symptoms. Undergoing a biopsy of the cervix is the way cervical cancer is diagnosed. The process is normally done with an internal examination called a colposcopy.

Treating cancer of the cervix will purely depend upon the severity of the disuse, meaning, has it spread to the pelvis. A radical hysterectomy or Wertheim’s hysterectomy may be suggested as treatment. It is at this stage that a specialist gynaecologist will conduct surgery. Radiotherapy destroys tumour cells that the gynaecologist cannot see.

Remember “out of sight out of mind”, is not a healthy approach for a cure; a healthy approach is to keep it in mind and any cervical cancer symptoms must be kept in sight.

The by-election was an important one for the ruling Ontario Liberal Party as the province enters an election year. The Liberals held the riding until former MPPGerard Kennedy resigned, earlier this year, to focus on his bid to win the leadership of the federal Liberal Party of Canada. In the 2003 provincial election he held the riding with a commanding 57% of the vote.

Speaking Thursday night, NDP leader Howard Hampton said “There are no safe seats for the McGuinty government. People see us as a viable option.”

Despite having been considered one of the safest Liberal seats in the province the by-election campaign has gone badly for the Grits who have pulled out all the stops in the past week after internal polling showed them in danger of losing. On Monday, Ontario PremierDalton McGuinty and eleven of members of his cabinet spent much of the day campaigning in the riding. The last seven days has also seen a series of aggressive accusations aimed at DiNovo, a United Church minister. The allegations, which were initially made on blogs and anonymous fliers have, in the past few days, been issued in official Liberal Party press releases and statements and accuse her of not being suited for sitting in the provincial legislature. They focused on her admitted drug use when she was a street kid in the 1960s and what a Toronto Star column called “carefully edited excerpts from her sermons”. Liberal candidate Sylvia Watson, a Toronto City Councillor, issued a press release alleging that DiNovo described the media’s treatment of murderer Karla Homolka to the “persecution of Jesus Christ”. DiNovo, who has billed herself as the “Radical Reverend” responded by saying the comments were taken entirely out of context and threatened to sue Watson’s campaign.

Toronto mayor David Miller issued a statement denouncing the Liberal tactics as a “smear” while the media has been generally critical of the Liberal attacks on DiNovo as has the Progressive Conservatives whose candidate, Dave Hutcheon accused the Liberals of trying to “assassinate the character” of DiNovo. Premier McGuinty responded to the negative reaction saying “Look, it’s a tough by-election for us.”

Some Liberals and some columnists have argued that the anti-DiNovo campaign is payback for the 2001 Beaches—East York by-election in which the NDP suggested that a sex scene in a novel written by Liberal candidate Bob Hunter condoned pedophilia.

Graham White, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, told the Globe and Mail that the tactics might hurt the Liberals. “It just looks like really bad politics,” he said. “Even if this is enough to sway voters in the riding for the by-election, it seems to me the larger risk is very substanial.”

Which of the following statements about the over-the-counter market is true?

A. Only penny stocks are traded in the over-the-counter market.

B. Trades in the over-the-counter market are conducted via the auction process.

C. Only bonds and other debt instruments are traded in the over-the-counter market.

D. Stocks that are listed on exchange floors are also traded in the over-the-counter market.

Answer: D

Explanation:

Stocks that are listed on exchange floors are also traded in the over-the-counter market. The term third market refers to over-the-counter trading of listed stocks. All types of securities-stocks, bonds, options, warrants, rights-trade over the counter. The over-the-counter market is a negotiated market, not an auction market.

Question: 2

Which of the following is not an auction market?

A. NASDAQ

B. NYSE

C. CHX

D. All of the above are auction markets

Answer: A

Explanation:

NASDAQ is not an auction market. NASDAQ is a computerized system of geographically dispersed securities dealers. As such, it is a negotiated market. The NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) and the CHX (Chicago Stock Exchange) are both auction markets.

Question: 3

The entity that serves as the auctioneer for trades conducted on an organized exchange floor is known as a:

A. registered trader.

B. specialist.

C. floor broker.

D. commission broker.

Answer: B

Explanation:

The entity that serves as the auctioneer for trades conducted on an organized exchange floor is known as a specialist. The specialist is assigned stocks by the exchange and is a market maker in those stocks. A registered trader is a private individual who buys and sells on his own account only. Floor brokers and commission brokers execute trades for other investors.

Question: 4

Which of the following statements about specialists is false?

A. Specialists are market makers in assigned stocks and, as such, can profit from these investments.

B. Specialists are required to maintain a fair and orderly market in their assigned stocks, meaning that they must buy if there is an excess of sell orders and sell out of their own portfolios if there is an excess of buy orders.

C. Specialists are employees of the exchange on which they oversee trades.

D. In addition to acting as market makers, specialists also act as agents and execute limit orders placed by commission brokers for their clients if the specified price is reached.

Answer: C

Explanation:

The statement that specialists are employees of the exchange on which they oversee trades is false. Specialists are separate firms that are members of the exchange. Specialists are market makers in the stocks that are assigned them by the exchange and can earn profits (or losses) on these investments, just like any other market maker. They are required to maintain a fair and orderly market in their assigned stocks, however, which means they sometimes must trade against the market. They also maintain a central limit order book in their assigned stocks.

Question: 5

NASDAQ market makers provide investors with assurance that:

A. there is a market for the listed security.

B. the investor will be able to buy or sell the security at a price he desires.

C. the investor will be investing in a high quality investment with relatively low risk.

NASDAQ market makers provide investors with assurance that there is a market for the listed security by posting bid and ask prices for it. There is no guarantee, however, that the investor will be able to buy or sell the security at the price he desires or that the investment is high quality and low risk.

Question: 6

SuperDOT is:

A. an electronic communication network (ECN).

B. an electronic system whereby trades are executed on NASDAQ.

C. an electronic system used to place orders on the NYSE.

D. both A and C.

Answer: C

Explanation:

SuperDOT is an electronic system used to place market and limit orders on the NYSE whereby the orders are routed directly to the specialist in the assigned stocks. It is not an ECN, which is an electronic network that is designed to allow buyers and sellers to interact directly with each other, thereby bypassing the middlemen.

Question: 7

GoForBroke Investments has registered with the SEC to be a market maker in certain NASDAQ-listed securities. In order to be able to enter bid and ask quotes for the securities in which it is going to make a market, GoForBroke must subscribe to which level of NASDAQ?

A. Level I

B. Level II

C. Level III

D. Level IV

Answer: C

Explanation:

In order to enter bid and ask quotes, GoForBroke must subscribe to NASDAQs Level II I. Level I simply allows the user to view the highest bid and lowest ask price for a security, and Level II allows the user to view all the bid and ask quotes from all the market makers in a security, but only Level III allows the subscriber to enter quotes. There is no Level IV.

Question: 8

Which of the following is not a characteristic of all auction stock exchanges in the U.S.?

A. There is a central marketplace.

B. Stocks that are traded on the exchange must meet certain listing requirements, determined by the exchange.

C. In order to conduct a trade on the exchange, a broker must be a member of the exchange or hold a license to trade on the exchange.

D. If a stock is listed on one of these exchanges, it is not permitted to be listed on any other exchange.

Answer: D

Explanation:

The statement that does not describe a characteristic of all U.S. auction stock exchanges is D. Dual listing is permitted. Stocks listed on one exchange may also be listed on another. In fact, most of the trading on U.S. regional exchanges is in dual-listed stocks. All of the auction exchanges do have a central marketplace, listed stocks must meet listing requirements, and brokers wishing to conduct trades on the exchange must be members of the exchange or hold a license to trade on the exchange.

Question: 9

Which of the following is an example of a primary market transaction?

A. Exco Resources (XCO) sells a new issue of 7.5%, 8-year notes.

B. Ms. Talker calls her broker and places a market order to sell shares of AT&T (T) on the NYSE.

C. Mr. Safe purchases a Treasury bill with two weeks remaining to maturity.

D. Mr. Green places an order to buy shares of Sunvalley Solar, Inc. (SSOL), a stock selling on the OTC Bulletin Board.

Answer: A

Explanation:

Exco Resources new bond issue is a primary market transaction. The primary market refers to the market for new issues. The other three scenarios describe transactions in securities that are already being traded and are secondary market transactions.

Question: 10

NASDAQ is:

A. an acronym for Norways major stock exchange.

B. the government organization that insures accounts at U.S. brokerage firms.

C. a computerized system that links together the U.S. regional exchanges.

D. a computerized quotation system used in the over-the-counter market.

Answer: D

Explanation:

NASDAQ is a computerized quotation system that is used in the over-the-counter market. It allows NASDAQ market makers to enter bid and ask quotes and allows subscribers at lower levels to view the bid and ask quotes available.

Question: 11

All government bonds and the majority of corporate bonds are traded:

A. on the floor of the NYSE.

B. via electronic communication networks (ECNs).

C. on regional exchanges.

D. in the over-the-counter market.

Answer: D

Explanation:

All government bonds and the majority of corporate bonds are traded in the over-the-counter market.

Question: 12

Which of the following types of securities would not be traded in the over-the-counter market?

I. stock options

II. government bonds

III. corporate bonds

IV. corporate stocks

A. I only

B. I and IV only

C. III and IV only

D. All of the choices are traded in the over-the-counter market.

Answer: D

Explanation:

All of the choices listed-and more-are traded in the over-the-counter market: stock options, government bonds, corporate bonds, and corporate stocks. Additionally, securities such as warrants, rights, forward contracts, and foreign currencies also trade in the over-the-counter market.

Question: 13

Which of the following are duties of the specialist on an exchange floor?

II. minimizing any imbalance in supply and demand for the stock(s) that the specialist is assigned

III. determining an opening price for each assigned stock every day

IV. serving as an auctioneer for the shares of the assigned stocks

A. I and II only

B. I, II, and IV only

C. I and IV only

D. I, II, III, and IV

Answer: D

Explanation:

All of the choices listed are duties of the specialist on an exchange floor. The specialist maintains a limit order book and executes those orders if/when the limit price is reached. The specialist is also charged with maintaining a fair and orderly market in the assigned securities, which means trading on his own account to ensure that the supply and demand of the stocks shares match. Additionally, the specialist is responsible for setting the opening price for the assigned stock each day and for serving as the auctioneer for the shares of the stock.

Question: 14

The price at which an investor can sell a security to a market maker in the over-the-counter market is called the:

A. sale price.

B. put price.

C. bid price.

D. ask price.

Answer: C

Explanation:

An investor can sell a security to a market maker in the over -the-counter market at the bid price, which is the price at which the market maker is willing to buy the security.

Question: 15

Mary is interested in buying shares of the Lambchops Corporation, which sells over-the-counter. The market maker with the best bid price–$3.15–is Veggie Investments. The market maker with the best ask price–$3.27-is Carnivor Investments. Mary conducts trades in NYSE-listed stocks through her broker, Omnivor and Associates.

Given this scenario, which of the following statements is true?

A. Mary can buy shares of Lambchops Corporation at the bid price of $3.15 by contacting Veggie Investments directly.

B. Mary can buy shares of Lambchops Corporation at the ask price of $3.27 by contacting Carnivor Investments directly.

C. Mary can buy shares of Lambchops Corporation at the bid price of $3.15 by contacting Omnivor and Associates.

D. Mary can buy shares of Lambchops Corporation at the ask price of $3.27 by contacting Omnivor and Associates.

Answer: D

Explanation:

Mary can buy shares of Lambchops Corporation for $3.27 from the market maker with the best ask price, Carnivor, by contacting her broker, Omnivor and Associates, which will execute the transaction. The ask price is the price at which market makers in the over-the-counter market are willing to sell the stock, and over-the-counter transactions, like NYSE transactions, are executed by brokers.

Zork Hun is running for the Libertarian party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Parkdale-High Park riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

The New South Wales police fraud squad have been recognised for their efforts and successes in credit and debit card fraud in Singapore last week according to a statement issued today. The award was presented at the Visa Asia Pacific Risk Management Conference.

The award recognises efforts made by police to reduce credit card skimming attacks. Skimming occurs when either an ATM or merchant’s terminal is modified to record a copy of a customer’s card. This data is then sold on the black market.

The award received by NSW police was one of three presented at the conference. The National Police Agency of Japan and the Economic Crime Investigation Departments of Shenzhen and Guandong Provinces of China were also acknowledged with awards.

Assistant Commissioner Graeme Morgan from the State Crime Command said the award recognised the amount of work done by the squad in reducing credit card fraud. “The effectiveness of the squad is demonstrated by the results achieved by these detectives, who are amongst the best in the world,” he said.

Detective Superintendent Colin Dyson, Commander of the fraud squad applauded his team for receiving the award. “It’s a reflection of the enthusiastic and thorough work being carried out by the squad’s detectives to dismantle organised crime groups, particularly recent strike forces that have led to significant arrests for credit card counterfeiting and skimming offences.”

Visa’s Executive Vice President for Australia and New Zealand, Bruce Mansfield, said that NSW Police play a key role in reducing credit card fraud in Australia. “In Australia, we are fortunate to have the best per-capita card security surveillance systems in the world and this is matched by a strong commitment from law enforcement agencies to fight and track down those trying to defraud the system.”

“NSW Police exemplifies this commitment with dedicated strike forces focusing on organised crime gangs, both local and international. It is playing a critical role in the dismantling of organised crime groups engaged in credit and debit card skimming,” Mr Mansfield said.